Three of a Kind, Birds of a Feather
by SpanishMonkeys
Summary: My take on the origin of Lock, Shock, and Barrel. My first TNBC fic, spare me! I got my inspiration while writting to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, don't ask me why. Anyway, please reveiw!
1. Chapter 1 Shock

Lucy Martindale sighed as she sat in the chair, awaiting the principal. Her gaze wandered over the bare walls of the quiet, soundproof room. There was noting there. Nothing but a table, two chairs, and a window; that overlooked the school grounds. The trees outside were bare, their dead leaves littering the ground.

Lucy turned her head as the door opened. The principal walked in. Lucy glared at her turned back as she circled the table, before finally sitting down opposite her.

"So, Lucy, I have heard what you have done."

Lucy bit back a sarcastic retort.

"This is the second time this week you got into a fight with Nathan."

"I can't help it, we're like siblings, we know each other so well, it hurts. Literally," she said.

"Lucy, this can't go on. I'm going to have to do something about it," The principal sighed.

Lucy flipped her thin, wavy black hair over her shoulder. Then came something that made the colour drain out of her face, something she has dreaded ever since she gained the violent personality when she was younger.

"I'm going to have to call your parents."

"But you can't!" She shrieked. "I'm only seven; I don't deserve this kind of punishment!"

"You seem to be rather intelligent for a seven-year old; I think it would be sufficient."

So Lucy had to wait fuming in the chair while the principal phoned her mother. They talked for hours it seemed like, before the principal sent her back to class.

She sat down in her seat in math. She snuck a glance at Nathan Patterson, who caught her eye and snickered. Lucy didn't really hate him, they were just really really good friends.

Finally, after an eternity, the bell signalled the end of school. Lucy grabbed her stuff and ran out the door.

She hopped on the bus and took the first empty seat from the back she could find.

A little while later, Nathan boarded and took the space beside Lucy.

"So, do you feel forgiving?" he asked.

"I should be asking the same question," she replied.

"Why?"

"Cause you started it."

"No I didn't!" Nathan exclaimed, punching Lucy lightly on the shoulder.

"Yes, you did! You said my drawing looked horrible!"

"Whatever, let's just call it a truce, okay?"

"Temporary truce."

"Temporary. Until Halloween ends," Nathan agreed. They even shook hands on it.

They spent the rest of the ride home planning tricks for Halloween, which was tomorrow.

Nathan got off first, and Lucy had to wait another 30 minutes until she got off. When it was her stop, she walked up the driveway to her house. It was a small house, for a small family. It only had one floor, with 6 rooms: 2 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, her parents' bedroom, and her room.

It was a small room, but stuffed full to the brim with pranks and everything Halloween. A calendar hung on the wall. Halloween was written on the 31st, in big red letters, circled and underlined twice.

Lucy dumped the contents of her backpack on the floor, only to be called into the kitchen by her mother. She had completely forgotten about the phone call! Guiltily, she shuffled into the kitchen. She met her mother, a storm cloud passing above her head.

"So," she said, in a dangerously calm voice, "The second time this week."

"Y-yes," Lucy stammered.

"I cannot keep count on how many times you've fought with that boy!" she yelled. "When will you ever learn?!"

Rather hurt, Lucy replied,

"It's not my fault, he always starts it!"

"You know what? I've had it. No Halloween tomorrow!" Her mother yelled.

"Noooooooooooooo.." Lucy moaned, dropping to her knees.


	2. Chapter 2 Lock

Nathan Patterson walked up the drive to his house. He opened the door, and ran up the stairs to his room, but only to be interrupted by his little sister, Kate. She ran up to him and roared. Nathan took off her werewolf mask and said

"So, are you going to bite me and turn me into a werewolf too?"

Kate giggled.

"Not without my mask," she replied.

"Well, you're not gonna get it!"

"Hey, give it back! Nathan, I mean it!" She shouted after him. They ran all around the house: the living room, kitchen, basement, and every room in the house. They skidded past the laundry room, where his mother was trying to fit the vacuum in the closet.

"Nathan, give Kate back her mask. She's only 4," She called.

"Well I'm only 6!" he answered, holding the mask high above his head where Kate couldn't reach it.

"Nathan…" his mother warned.

"Fine," he muttered, and gave his sister back her mask. She laughed and scurried away.

Nathan went back to his room, which was entirely red. Red curtains, red walls, red bed, even a red dresser. The window was on the opposite wall the door was on. There was the bed on the left, and his closet was on the right. The dresser was located at the corner of his room, between the bed and the window.

Nathan sat down on his bed and murmured to himself

"I wonder what Lucy's being for Halloween?" Nathan got off his bed and opened the closet.

"What am I being for Halloween?" He searched through his clothes for some ideas. He found his favourite red shirt and red pants. Nathan snapped his fingers.

"Now I know!" he exclaimed. He dug around his closet some more and found a devil mask. It was, of course, red, with the famous horns and wide, sharp-toothed smile. He grinned his well-known lopsided grin.

Returning to his hunt, he searched through the bottom of his closet, where he kept all his toys. Feeling something unusual, he frowned and pulled the thing up. It was a plunger, which was a strange thing to be found in a closet. Nathan's grin returned to his face.

"Now that I have my costume," he said, running down the stairs, "time to phone Lucy!"

He grabbed the cordless phone, and dialled Lucy's number like he was being chased by a bear. Nathan help it up to his hear, when he heard Lucy's dad say

"Hello?"

"Hi, can I speak to Lucy please?" he asked.

"Sure, just one moment," he replied. There was silence for a bit until he heard Lucy's voice.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi Lucy, its Nathan."

"Oh, hi."

So then Nathan launched into his story. When he was done, Lucy said

"Oh, that's great, but I can't do Halloween tomorrow."

"What!? Why?!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Because my mom thinks fighting is bad, so she won't let me go trick-or-treating."

"Well, tell her that you're sorry or something," he said.

"I'll try," Lucy murmured. There was silence for a bit, until Lucy's breathless voice came back on. "Yes! Yes, I can come!"

"Really? That's great!" Nathan replied. "How did you do it?"

"I said that I was really, really sorry, and that I'll be good for the rest of the month, and the month after that."

Nathan smiled.

"Awesome! So what're you going as?"

"I'm going as a witch. What about you?"

"I'm going as a devil. We're still trick-or-treating together, right?"

"Yep. My mom is still driving us, am I correct?"

"Yes you are," Nathan answered.

"Good. So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"All right. Bye."

"Bye," Nathan said, and hung up. He sighed. Saturday was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3 Barrel

Daniel Morgan sat on the couch, quietly watching TV. He nervously played with his chocolate brown hair as he glanced back at his parents.

Once again, they were fighting. They always did that, almost everyday. Daniel even heard the word "divorce" once. He didn't know what that meant, but he knew it was something bad.

He waited anxiously for another 2 minutes for his parents to stop fighting. When they were done, his mother stormed outside. The car engine revved, and it pulled out of the driveway, going who knows where? His father sat on the kitchen table, his hands covering his face.

"Daddy?" Daniel hesitantly asked, going up to him with small, timid steps. His father groaned and pulled his hands away.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly. Daniel gazed up into his father's brown eyes, the colour he inherited for his own.

"Can I go trick-or-treating with Nathan tomorrow?" he inquired.

"Whatever, I don't care, just go away and do something else for a while," he sighed.

Rather hurt, he opened the front door (with great difficulty), and headed out into the evening sun. Daniel walked along the sidewalk toward Nathan's house, which were just a few blocks away.

He walked up Nathan's drive and knocked on his door. To his surprise, Nathan answered it, and asked him

"Oh, hi. What're you doing here?"

"I was wondering if I could go trick-or-treating with you tomorrow night?"

"Oh, well… I was already going with Lucy, but I guess you can come with us."

"Great!" Daniel exclaimed. Nathan stepped out onto the steps and closed the door.

"Let's go for a walk," he declared, and started down the steps. Daniel followed him.

"Aren't you having supper at this time?" he asked while they walked in no particular direction.

"I already ate it," Nathan replied. "What're you being for Halloween?"

"I'm going as a skeleton. What about you?"

"A devil." They continued walking, so that Nathan's house was no longer in sight. They gazed into the sunset as they walked. It splattered red, orange, and yellow across the sky, giving it a strange dark blue and purple look. The two boys were brought down to earth when they heard a voice calling to them.

"Hey, midgets!"

"What do you want, Terrence?" Nathan sighed. A large boy with sandy hair rode up to them on his bike. He skidded to a stop just inches away from them, next to some bushes.

"I want to see both of you and that girl crying in pain for destroying my bike," he answered with a cruel grin. Daniel remembered the incident quite well. Him, Nathan, and Lucy decided to stop Terrence's bullying, at least for a bit, so all three of them worked together to throw his bike down as many dangerous and rocky cliffs as they could find. It took them all day just to throw it down four. By the time they were done, it was smashed and bent up, beyond repair. They returned it to Terrence's house, topped it with a red bow, and wrote a note that said

_To Terrence,_

_ You're an idiot._

Daniel smiled at the memory. Terrence knew it was them as soon as he read the note.

Daniel directed his attention to the dangerous situation.

"It looks like you already have a bike, so it must have magically repaired itself," Nathan said. Terrence's evil smile was wiped off his face.

"You're going to pay!" he shrieked, and started to pedal. Daniel and Nathan's faces both drained of colour.

"RUN!" Daniel shouted; as if they didn't need any warning. Luckily, the spokes of Terrence's bike were entangled with a stick from the bushes, and as he struggled to pull it out, Nathan and Daniel were already a long ways ahead. Considering that you're a lot shorter than normal, it was hard running fast enough with very short legs.

Terrence was back on his bike, and coming up fast.

"In those bushes!" Nathan called out, pointing to a neighbours' garden. They dived in, and waited in silence as they caught their breath.

"Do you think we lost him?" Daniel asked.

"Shhh!" Nathan replied. "If we talk, he'll hear us!"

"You're the one talking!"

"You are too!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Nathan accused, and started to fight with Daniel. Little did they notice, Terrence was off his bike and sneaking up behind the wrestling boys. Daniel heard a twig snap, and he stopped fighting to look behind him.

"RUN!" he shouted again, and crashed out of the bush, Nathan right at his heels. Terrence ditched his bike and decided to chase them on foot. The two short boys ran as fast as they could.

"Look, there's your house!" Daniel called out. Sure enough, the large house slowly came into view. Finally, what seemed like 3 hours was only 30 seconds, they reached Nathan's front door.

"Get in, quick!" Nathan exclaimed, holding the door open. Daniel didn't need to be told twice. He ran inside, and Nathan shut and locked the door. They ran into the living room to watch Terrence.

He was standing there, looking at the door. After a while, he turned and walked back the way he came to retrieve his bike.

"Remind me," Nathan panted, "To never mess around with bikes."

"Easier said than done," Daniel breathlessly replied.


	4. Chapter 4 Shock

Lucy admired her reflection in the mirror. It was the night of Halloween, and Lucy had gotten herself into her witch costume. It was a purple dress, with a hat to match. She had her mother's help to make her skin have a greenish tinge. Lucy also had a witch mask to hide her face in case she got cold. She messed up her hair herself, so it was flyaway, and stringy.

"Okay Lucy, the car's running, let's go!" Her mother called from the front door.

"Coming!" She answered. She grabbed her broom and her black-and-orange pumpkin-patterned candy bag, already slightly filled with stuff to prank people with, and headed out the door towards the car. Lucy hopped in the back seat, and looked out the window.

Kids in costumes filled the street, knocking on doors and begging for candy. Lucy smiled at the thought of pranking all the unwary people on the road, about to get the crap scared out of them.

The car had stopped in Nathan's driveway. Lucy opened the door for him.

"You look awesome!" She exclaimed, taking in Nathan's red suit, fake tail, gelled up hair, and mask. "What's with the plunger?" she asked. Nathan took of his devil mask in annoyance.

"I found it, so I wanted to bring it!" he retorted. That's when Lucy noticed Daniel.

"What is HE doing here?" she inquired.

"Can I come along?" Daniel questioned. He also had a mask, but it was of a skeleton. He had a shirt and pants with bone patterns on them.

"Sure, hop in!" Lucy's mother answered before she could reply. With a grateful look on his face, Daniel followed Nathan in the back seat, Nathan in the middle. The children chatted excitedly for the fun was about to start.

Suddenly, Lucy's mother screamed. The three kids felt a giant jerk, and then they were tumbling through the air, still inside the car. A click told Lucy her mother had forgotten to lock the car doors, and was doing so now. Bits ad pieces of metal flew past, and for the first time, Lucy realised her life was in danger. She felt a humungous, sudden, painful jerk, and everything went black.

Groaning, Lucy opened her eyes. Nathan and Daniel were lying unconscious on the dead ground beside her. _Where are we?_ She thought, sitting up. _What happened?_ Suddenly, the memory of the car crash came back to her. _I'm not in the hospital, this is grass covered in dead leaves,_ she reasoned. _Where am I? WHO am I?_ She asked herself, starting to panic. All the memories of her past life started slipping away. The more she tried to remember, the more she forgot. Then it hit her. _I'm dead_, she thought with sudden realization. _I'm dead. _Lucy hid her face in her arms, and started to quietly sob.

A while later, she heard the two boys stir. She hastily shoved her mask on to hide her face.

"Where are we?" Daniel asked.

"DeadLand, what do you think?" Nathan replied. "Can't you see the leaves and the trees?"

"You idiots," Lucy interrupted, "WE'RE dead, okay? WE'RE the dead ones." There was a stunned silence before Nathan leaned over and whispered to Daniel that was well-heard by Lucy:

"I told you we're in DeadLand."

"Was it the car crash that killed us?" Daniel asked. Lucy nodded in reply. She looked over at Nathan, who had thrown his mask on the ground, and gasped.

"Look at your face!" She exclaimed. Annoyed, Nathan replied

"My face is perfectly fine. Don't insult it again." He crossed his arms.

"But your face is really pale, your eyes are yellow, your teeth are pointed, and that's a real tail!" Daniel listed, pulling Nathan's devil tail.

"OW! That hurt!" Nathan swung a fist at Daniel, who responded with another fist. Nathan fell over, and Daniel jumped on him. Thinking that the fight was fun, Lucy joined the doggy-pile as well.

When they were done, all three of them sat on the ground, gasping for air, all of their masks abandoned.

"What's wrong with your nose?" Daniel asked, "It's huge." Lucy whacked Daniel on the head with her broom.

"What's wrong with your mouth?" she retorted, "It never stops smiling, and it's unnaturally wide. You also have deformed feet."

"I like my mouth and my deformed feet. Got a problem with that?"

Nathan changed the subject, not wanting to start another fight.

"So, if we can't remember our old names, we've got to come up with some new ones, right?"

"Right!" the other two chorused. Lucy thought back to the car crash. She would never forget that, no matter what. The last thing she had felt was the painful jerk that reminded her of an electric shock.

"That's it!" She exclaimed, "My name is Shock!"

"Well, my name is Barrel!" The five-year-old boy added.

"MY name is Lock!" The devil declared.

The three companions took in their surroundings. It was night-time, and they were in a graveyard. A large, purple hill blotted out the moon. The one special thing about it was that it ended in a spiral. A path led beyond a tall gate, to buildings and lights.

"Let's sleep here. We can explore the town in the morning," the witch suggested. Finally, the first in a very long time, all three of them agreed on something. They built a large nest in the forest out of the dead leaves they could find. They gathered up their accessories, and their trick-or-treating bag. They huddled together inside the nest, pressing against each other for warmth. After a while of shivering, Lock, Shock, and Barrel fell asleep. A moonbeam shone through the trees to light up their nest, bathing the three kids in moonlight.

**A/N:** You know what that looks like, right? Moonlight lighting up one area, but nothing else? Anyway, I'm feeling rather good about this, this is one of my favourites. :3 Please review!

Thx,

SpanishMonkeys

P.S. I don't know why I do that all the time, I guess it's my signature thing, you know? Teehee.


	5. Chapter 5 All Three

**A/N: **So this will probably be my last chapter, and it will be short, since I can't come up with any more ideas. I'm also at a loss for a new story, so feel free to leave me some ideas. :) And I'm SO SORRY I haven't been updating lately, I just can't find the time. So anyway, here it is. *sing-song voice* I don't own anything!

Thx,

SpanishMonkeys

The pumpkin sun shone through the spaces from the branches, lighting up the forest with a warm glow. 3 children sleeping together stirred, feeling the sun on their sides. They sat up and yawned, looking about them. Without a word, they stood up and headed along the path that led to the town.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" A voice asked. It stepped out onto the path in front of us. It was huge, like 10 feet tall. It was a giant burlap sack, with a mouth that reached to the sides of its face, and empty holes for eyes in which the children could faintly see bugs crawling around in.

"You seem a little lost," he said in a mocking tone, "What are your names?"

They were too stunned to reply.

"No matter. I'm Oogie Boogie. Why don't you come along with me?" without waiting for an answer, he picked them up and carried them away, just off the path to a crooked tree, with a nearly as crooked hastily-built tree house resting in its branches. As soon as he put them down, the devil's stomach growled. Oogie raised one eyebrow.

"Wait here," was all he said, and without a sound, he disappeared.

The 3 companions looked at each other. They turned slightly frightened faces to gaze at the tree house.

Just then, Oogie appeared with 3 steaming bowls of toxic green soup.

"Try it," he said. "It's my all-time famous, snake and spider stew!" he gave them each a bowl. After a cautious spoonful, the kids slurped it up eagerly. The skeleton pointed to his ever grinning mouth as a way of saying "More please." Oogie laughed and picked him up to look at him at eye level.

"You're now my favourite, Chubs," he announced, and turned, and still carrying him, headed towards the tree. Without Oogie noticing, he stuck his tongue out at his comrades. They glowered; probably wanting to pick a fight after Oogie went away.

He set the child down in front of the cage elevator, and asked all of them,

"How would you like to work for me?" They looked at each other sceptically. "If you do a good job, I'll reward you with snake and spider stew," He bribed. That did it for them. The 3 nodded with enthusiasm. "Good! Oh, what are your names again?"

They each looked at the other, and launched into what would be the famous routine.

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!"

Oogie smiled.

"Okay, you guys can live up there, and I'll be down there. I'll call you if I need you. Oh, and you will call me Mr. Oogie Boogie. Understand?"

"Got it," Lock and Barrel called out in unison as the three of them crammed into the cage.

"I wonder what our first real mission will be," Lock sighed. They were in the kitchen part of their playhouse. Barrel was over in the corner, trying to consume their entire stash of candy from their latest exploits into town. Shock was sitting on the table, and Lock was hanging upside down in an awkward way on his chair.

"If we do get one, we'll probably get another lecture and the worst punishment EVER from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King," Shock replied.

"Math tests!" Barrel piped up from the corner. All three of them closed their eyes and shuddered.

"Jack Skellington, the 'Pumpkin King'?" a voice asked, which turned out to be Oogie. "Never heard of him."

"He runs HalloweenTown," Shock explained.

"Jack's the scariest guy around!" Lock added. Oogie cocked his head, now interested.

"Even scarier than me, Oogie Boogie, King of all bugs?"

"Uh, well, yes, I-I mean no! I mean…" Barrel stuttered.

"SILENCE!" Oogie roared. "Go into HalloweenTown and bring me this Pumpkin King! It's time we met."

With their trick-or-treating bag in hand, Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran off into the night, with their first actual mission. None of them knew this decision would change the fate of Halloween forever.


End file.
